The invention relates to a device for olfactory judgement of an odorous substance, particularly a perfume. The device contains a flat test object preheated or heated in a casing to a given temperature by electrical heating via a temperature control and measuring circuit and with prolonged heat storage means, on which an easily attachable and removable material is disposed and coated with the odorous substance for judgement. The invention also relates to a device for simulating the properties of an odorous substance or a perfumed fabric on human skin and judgement thereof.
A device for olfactory judgement of an odorous substance, particularly a perfume, is known from German Laid-Open Specification 42 39 277 (xe2x80x9cDE ""277xe2x80x9d), which is derived from German Laid-Open Specification 42 23 263. The disclosed device is a flat test object in a casing, preheated electrically via a temperature control and measuring circuit to a given temperature and with a prolonged heat storage means, on which an easily attachable and removable material is disposed and coated with the odorous substance for olfactory testing. Alternatively, preheating or heating can be with hot air, using a fan for uniformly distributing the heat. After an arbitrary residence time at an arbitrary temperature, the test object coated with the odorous substance can be removed from the device and the olfactory judgement can be made.
The known device is used mainly for a method of recognizing and simulating the nature and intensity of the scent from a perfume after various time intervals. For example, the test can show how the odorous substance behaves after an hour at body temperature, i.e. what variety and intensity of scent occurs after one hour. A judgement of this kind is of critical importance both for development and for the characterization of odorous substances. The device is thus also of general use for production and testing, i.e. especially for development of perfumes by perfume manufacturers.
One important disadvantage of the known device is that the test object has to be removed from the device in order to make the olfactory judgement of the odorous substance.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to overcome this disadvantage and to provide a more easily operated, mobile device for e.g., judging odorous substances by e.g., professional perfume producers.
Another object of the invention is a device that reproducibly simulates the olfactory properties of an odorous substance or a scented (perfumed) fabric on or near human skin. Another object is to provide a method for judging these properties.